The rise of transnational business has created new challenges for corporations and their counsel. Companies in nearly every industry -- from technology, to apparel, to mining and extractive industries -- have come under scrutiny from governments, human rights groups, and their shareholders as they navigate the challenges of investing and operating in foreign nations, with vastly different standards of human rights, environmental protections, and corruption standards that are expected of them at home. Companies face lawsuits in the U.S. courts for alleged violations of the Alien Tort Statute and a host of other laws for their conduct abroad. This showcase program at the ABA Section of International Law Meeting in Brussels will provide an update on the newest developments in corporate legal and ethical compliance responsibilities from selected jurisdictions around the world. It will be held on Friday, September 26, 2008, at 9:00 a.m.

Video of the War Crimes Conference held at the Massachusetts School of Law is now available. Click here. We're told by attendees that the conference provided an interesting discussion by persons coming from a wide variety of schools of thought on domestic and international prosecutions for war crimes.

How have the international criminal tribunals been doing on crimes against women? Click here for a post on intlawgrrls that covers some of the victories and reasons why prosecutions often seem to have fallen short.

The New York Times reports today that by extending a last-minute $85 billion lifeline to American International Group (AIG), the Bush Administration has probably undercut future U.S. efforts to promote the virtues of the free market and the dangers of government intervention. Click here for more.

If you have a research assistant, you might want to have them download this article on "Should You Be A Faculty Research Assistant?" (Don't just give them a copy of the article -- give them the link instead to teach them how to use SSRN as a research tool!) The article explains to law students (1) why they should want to be a faculty research assistant, (2) how to go about finding a job as a faculty research assistant, and (3) how to be a good faculty research assistant.

If you are in the market to hire a faculty research assistant, I think you should ask those applying for the job to download the article as well. In your job interviews, ask them for their views on how they can be an effective research assistant for you. You will quickly separate those who are taking the job just as a resume builder from those who recognize the job as a serious opportunity.

If the students have not previously used SSRN for research, they might need to register their email address. I think teaching SSRN to students is a valuable supplement to other electronic and print research sources students are learning to use.

And as we are here on the International Law Prof Blog (with lots of readers from around the world), I wonder if some of you might post comments about how research assistants are utilized in your home counties. Better yet, have your research assistants post a comment!

Humanitarian Assistance to the Cuban People Following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike

Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike have caused severe damage to Cuba, displacing over two million people and destroying homes across the island. In order to assist the Cuban people in this time of crisis, the United States is taking the following steps:

The United States has provided $100,000 in immediate emergency assistance to NGOs engaged in humanitarian relief operations in Cuba.

The United States informed the Cuban Government on September 13 that the U.S. is committed to providing up to $5 million in relief assistance for Cuban hurricane victims. As part of this assistance, the U.S. offered to fly emergency relief supplies to Cuba as soon as the Cuban Government approved such a donation. The Cuban Government declined this offer on September 14. We regret that the Cuban authorities have not accepted this offer and we are investigating other ways to get humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people.

In the wake of the hurricanes, the U.S. Government increased existing authorizations for U.S.-based NGOs to provide larger amounts of humanitarian assistance, including in the form of cash donations, to help address the basic needs of the Cuban people. For a period of 90 days, the U.S. will expedite applications for immediate humanitarian assistance of up to $10 million per NGO, subject to appropriate restrictions. We have already authorized over $5 million in private donations.

Individuals and organizations interested in assisting hurricane victims in Cuba are encouraged to provide cash donations to reputable humanitarian assistance organizations that are licensed to send humanitarian aid to Cuba.

The United States has also licensed $250 million in agricultural sales to Cuba since Hurricane Gustav struck Cuba on September 7. Lumber, an important reconstruction material, is included within this category of agricultural sales. The United States is considering Cuba’s request to purchase other reconstruction materials on a case-by-case basis, consistent with U.S. law.

The American people are the largest providers of humanitarian aid to the Cuban people, and Cuba's top supplier of food. In 2007, the American people provided $240.5 million in private humanitarian assistance in the form of gift parcels filled with food and other basic necessities ($179.4 million), non-agricultural humanitarian donations ($20.6 million), and medical donations ($40.5 million). The United States Government also authorized $3.65 billion in sales of agricultural products ($3.621 billion) and sales of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals ($20.6 million).

Michael P. Scharf and Michael A. Newton have published "Enemy of the State," a book that describes the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein. Examination copies are available for professors. Click here. Of course, they'd probably prefer that you buy a copy. You can do that for the very modest price of $25.95. The ISBN number is 0-312-38556-0. The authors were deeply involved in preparing the Iraqi tribunal judges for the trial of Saddam Hussein.

UPDATE: I've learned that there is a website for the book as well. Click here.

India has become the first country to convict someone of a crime relying on evidence from a brain scanning machine, according to a story today in the New York Times. The controversial machine produces images of the human mind in action and is supposed to indicate when a criminal suspect remembers details of the crime in question. Read more here.